UFC's Nelson talks of hair dye and Justin Timberlake

Roy Nelson (right) takes on Frank Mir at UFC 130 in Las Vegas

Photograph by: Josh Hedges
, Getty Images via Zuffa LLC

On Saturday night, Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to pay-per-view with UFC 130 in Las Vegas, where heavyweight contender Roy ‘Big Country’ Nelson takes on former champion Frank Mir in the co-main event. Taking a break from his fight-week preparations, Nelson went 1-on-1 with Postmedia News MMA reporter Dave Deibert, discussing mullets, being part of the most-viewed MMA match in North American history and how one of his fighting feats compares to a Justin Timberlake hot streak . . .

POSTMEDIA: You won Season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter. Any fight fan knows that you guys are basically shut off from the world during filming of the reality-TV show. What event did you miss while you were in the house that you most wish you could have experienced live?

NELSON: I think there were one or two UFC (pay-per-views) while we were in the house, but there were a lot of things we missed, like when Michael Jackson died. A couple of people died while we were in the house.

POSTMEDIA: Right. Farah Fawcett was the other. Your fight with Kimbo Slice during that season is the most-watched match in North American MMA history. Were you one of the people tuned in the night it aired?

NELSON: I actually didn’t watch it live. I watched a replay a couple days later.

POSTMEDIA: Interesting. Now, speaking of most-watched this or that, since you’re a history maker yourself, do you know what the highest-grossing movie of all-time is?

NELSON: It has to be one of those digital ones. I’m going to go with Avatar or Star Wars.

POSTMEDIA: You were right on both counts at some point. It’s Avatar right now. Can you name the most-watched TV program ever?

NELSON: Let’s go old-school, like MASH or something like that.

POSTMEDIA: Up until the last two Super Bowls, you’re right. You’re good. Last one: highest-selling album of all-time?

NELSON: Probably, um, I want to say The Beatles but I’ll go with Michael Jackson.

POSTMEDIA: You know your stuff. Now, you fought for the Bodog promotion in Russia. I’ve heard stories from other fighters about their travels there. Did you have any out-of-the-ordinary experiences?

NELSON: Not me myself, but I know a couple guys who got stopped by the Russian police and got shaked down a couple times. I managed to avoid it but I heard the story literally a couple hours after it happened.

POSTMEDIA: A few years ago at a grappling tournament, you beat current UFC stars Frank Mir, Brandon Vera and Diego Sanchez back-to-back-to-back. Which three-person run is more impressive: yours or when Justin Timberlake dated Cameron Diaz, Scarlett Johansson and Jessica Biel in a six-month stretch?

NELSON: (Laughs) I’m gonna have to go with Timberlake. He made a couple more dollars than I did.

POSTMEDIA: Speaking of dollars, what’s the silliest thing you’ve seen another fighter some of their money on?

NELSON: Strippers (laughs).

POSTMEDIA: What’s scarier: substitute teaching or fighting?

NELSON: I’ve done both. I’d definitely have to say substitute teaching. You just don’t know what you’re getting into when you go in as a substitute teacher. When you get into the cage, you already know who you’re fighting.

POSTMEDIA: Have you ever been in the cage, either in the match or between minds, and your mind starts wandering?

NELSON: There’s only time my whole entire life I’ve ever lost my stuff during the cage. That’s when I was fighting Andrei Arlovski (in Elite XC). I was wondering what the hell the ref’s doing (Nelson was dominating Arlovski on the mat when the referee inexplicably stood both fighters up, leading to an Arlovski knockout over a visibly rattled Nelson). That’s the only time I’ve ever lost it. It was a good thing I learned from.

POSTMEDIA: What would a perfect day look like for you?

NELSON: Anything hanging out with my wife, my friends and not worrying about how to pay the mortgage . . . Just hanging out, either watching a movie, eating some good food, just hanging out and giggling (laughs).

POSTMEDIA: The story’s been told of how you used in training a pair of pink boxing gloves that turned out to be too big for your wife to use. If you can pull that off, what else shows the softer side of Roy Nelson?

NELSON: I love to cook but everybody knows that (laughs). I do a good dye job. I dye my wife’s hair.

POSTMEDIA: Speaking of hair, who would look better: you with Dana White’s bald head or Dana White with your famed mullet?

NELSON: That’s a tough one. I know I could pull off both of them. I’m going to say me with a bald head but I would still like to see Dana with a mullet (laughs).

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